Missing mother-of-two found alone in the woods one week after home burned to ground

By SONYA GUGLIARA, US REPORTER

Published: | Updated:

An Indiana mother-of-two who was reported missing after her house went up in flames has been found in the woods more than a week after the ‘suspicious’ fire. 

Britney Gard, 46, was recovered from Hall Woods Nature Preserve, about two-and-a-half miles from her Bainbridge home, on Wednesday evening.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said Gard had called 911 from a cell phone at around 5.30pm, requesting help finding her way out of the heavily wooded area.

Once she was located, paramedics checked her out at the scene and then took her to an area hospital for further medical evaluation. 

There are no individuals of interest in her missing person investigation, police said, but the case is still active. 

Investigators have not disclosed her condition or how she ended up alone in the woods.  

Relatives told investigators that the last time anyone had heard from her was on September 30 – a day before her residence mysteriously went ablaze.

Firefighters responding to the fire found Gard’s home engulfed in smoke. They quickly extinguished the flames, which were contained to one part of the house. 

Britney Gard, 46, was recovered from Hall Woods Nature Preserve, about two-and-a-half miles from her Bainbridge home, on Wednesday evening

Gard was supposed to attend her daughter’s volleyball game the night her house went on fire

Gard called 911 from within the Hall Woods Nature Preserve (pictured) for help

While Gard’s purse was still on the kitchen counter and her car was parked outside, she had disappeared. Investigators have ruled the fire ‘suspicious in nature.’ 

Authorities said the front door of Gard’s home showed no signs of forced entry, though several personal items inside the house appeared to have been disturbed. The family’s two dogs were found unharmed in the backyard. 

That night, Gard was supposed to be at her 13-year-old daughter’s volleyball game, but she never showed up. 

‘[Her daughter] was at her dad’s. The night before the game, she talked to her mom, that evening,’ Gard’s brother-in-law Kenny Brown told WTHR.     

‘[She was] expecting mom at the game. I don’t think Britney has missed a game in like, two years.’

Panic grasped the quiet town’s 700 residents, as well as Gard’s relatives. Her sisters immediately launched a Facebook page devoted to finding her. 

Family and friends had also launched their own desperate search across the rolling cornfields and wooded areas surrounding Gard’s rural property. 

‘I feel like there’s something here bigger that we don’t know, and someone knows something,’ Gard’s sister Stephanie Bowen told WRTV after her sister went missing.

A local pizzeria, Pizza King, started taping Gard’s missing poster to its takeouts

There are no individuals of interest in Gard’s missing person investigation, police said, but the case is still active

A local pizzeria, Pizza King, started delivering pizzas with Gard’s missing poster taped on them. 

Outside the charred remains of Gard’s home, a small cross and flowers were placed on the edge of the property. 

When Gard was found, the Find Britney Gard Facebook page was flooded with photos of the previously missing woman captioned with, ‘found alive.’ 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Gard’s family for comment.  

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